Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Tuesday 21 December 1999

Scottish Executive

Air Accident

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2585 by Lord Hardie on 26 November 1999, whether it will give details of what enquiries or representations it has made or proposes to make and what has prompted it to make such enquires or representations, as to why the information relating to the litigation in the United States by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) against the manufacturers of the Chinook FADEC system, which was concluded in or about November 1995, was not made available to the Crown Office until December 1997 and why it was not produced by the MoD at the time of the Fatal Accident Inquiry held in 1996, and to detail any response from the MoD.

Lord Hardie: When allegations about the FADEC system were first made the Crown Office immediately sought and thereafter obtained a very full account of the issue from the Ministry of Defence. The litigation, which was settled out of court, related to the test of a pre-production version of the software in conditions of simulated battle damage. There is no evidence to suggest that information about that matter would have made a difference to the outcome of the Fatal Accident Inquiry and, accordingly, no further documentation is required.

  All information known to the Lord Advocate and Crown Office was made available to those representing the families of the deceased, the Ministry of Defence and the aircraft manufacturers. All evidence known to the Lord Advocate and Crown Office which was considered to be in any way relevant to the Fatal Accident Inquiry was led at that Inquiry.

Communities

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it proposes to take as a result of viewing the North West Communities Alliance video presented to the First Minister on 18 November.

Donald Dewar: A videotape in cellophane wrapping was presented to me on 18 November. When played, nothing was discovered to be contained on the tape.

Community Care

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average level is of direct payment made by local authorities to disabled persons in the current financial year in order to purchase services.

Iain Gray: Information on levels of payment is not held centrally.

Elderly People

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to produce centrally statistical data as currently gathered by local authorities, to monitor the take-up rate of pensioners claiming council tax and housing benefits for the purposes of assessing poverty levels.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits are published annually by the Department for Social Security. The recently published report Social Justice…a Scotland where everyone matters set out our five key milestones for elderly people, including one relating to income poverty. Take-up rates of benefits depend on many factors, and are not necessarily a good guide to poverty.

Elderly People

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government through the Inter-Departmental Group on Older People to change the law to reduce the housing benefit taper which requires pensioners to pay 65p in every pound earned from their occupation or private pension over the income support level towards their rent and what assessment it has made or plans to make of the effect on poverty levels such a change may have.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with United Kingdom Government Ministers and Departments on a wide range of issues, including housing benefit.

Elderly People

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty's Government through the Inter-Departmental Group on Older People to change the law to reduce the council tax benefit taper which requires pensioners to pay 20p in every £1 earned from their occupational or private pension over the income support level towards council tax and what assessment it has made of the effect on poverty levels such a change may have.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with United Kingdom Government Ministers and Departments on a wide range of issues, including council tax benefit. It is for the Department of Social Security to assess the impact of any possible changes to the council tax benefit taper.

Employment

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new jobs forecast by projects supported by Locate in Scotland between April 1998 and April 1999 have so far been created.

Henry McLeish: In the year to 31 March 1999, Locate in Scotland and its partners helped to attract to Scotland a total of 78 projects involving planned investment of £760 million and the anticipated creation or safeguarding of nearly 11,000 jobs.

  Inward investment projects are recorded in the year in which the investing company announces the decision to implement the project in Scotland, and using the data in the company’s announcement. Such projects typically build up over several years. Where financial assistance is offered, this is drawn down in line with the actual creation of jobs and actual incurring of capital expenditure.

  While many of the projects announced by investors in the year ending March 1999 will still be at an early stage of development, analysis of inward investment projects during the 1990’s suggests that over 70% of announced jobs actually come to fruition. This figure does not include cases where projects have, in fact, created more jobs than originally planned, or the large number of expansion projects which are secured on the positive experience of an investor’s initial project in Scotland.

  The very positive experience of inward investors in Scotland is underlined by the fact that as many as 50% of inward investment decisions in a typical year represent expansions or new projects by existing foreign investors.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses Scottish Enterprise currently invests in, what the total value of these investments is and what rate of return is being obtained.

Henry McLeish: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and I have asked the Chairman to write to Alex Neil MSP. A copy of the reply will be placed in SPICe.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total value was of Regional Selective Assistance grants awarded in the last two years to (a) inward investors and (b) indigenous companies already based in Scotland.

Henry McLeish: The figures requested are as follows:

  Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) Offers Accepted April 1997 to March 1999.

  


Ownership 

  

Value of RSA Offers 

  Accepted (£ millions) 

  



UK-owned companies 

  

97.5 

  



Foreign-owned companies 

  

162.4 

  



TOTAL 

  

259.9 

  



  Note: The above figures relate to the total amounts offered. RSA grants are generally paid in instalments over a number of years.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many tenders have been awarded to undertake activities of Local Enterprise Companies and when will such invitations to tender next be issued.

Henry McLeish: No competitive tendering for the appointment of Local Enterprise Companies has been carried out. However, LECs themselves operate competitive tendering for the provision of some of their own goods and services.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new ventures have been set up under the auspices of "Technology Ventures" since the initiative was launched; what is the total value of the investment made to date in these ventures, and whether it will provide a breakdown of the sources of funding for this investment.

Henry McLeish: The Technology Ventures Initiative is a partnership between Scottish higher education, the financial community, the business sector and the public sector led by Scottish Enterprise. The role of TVI is not to make investments and I shall ask the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to write to Alex Neil MSP on the matter.

Environment

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to deal with the existence of tritium at various landfill sites in Scotland.

Sarah Boyack: The day-to-day regulation of landfill sites rests with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Although the levels of tritium in the landfill leachate are of very low significance in terms of public health and safety, SEPA intends to continue monitoring the leachate at the approved landfill sites in Scotland. SEPA is also undertaking work to identify the source of the tritium in the leachate.

Ferry Operations

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost is of subsidies from the Scottish Executive and its agencies to ferry operations in Scotland in the current financial year and what percentage of the total revenues and costs of the ferry operations this figure represents.

Sarah Boyack: Details of total estimated revenue, subsidy and costs for Caledonian MacBrayne for the current financial year are as follows:

  


Total Estimated 

  Revenue (including subsidy) 

  

Plan Subsidy 

  

Estimated Expenditure 

  



£52.0 million 

  

£14.8 million 

  

£52.6 million 

  



  For P&O Scottish Ferries, estimated figures for this financial year are not available. However, total actual revenue, subsidy and costs for P&O Scottish Ferries for the period 1 January to 31 December 1998 are as follows:

  


Total Actual Revenue 

  (including subsidy) 

  

Subsidy 

  

Actual Expenditure 

  



£30.2 million 

  

£11.0 million 

  

£27.5 million 

  



  In the case of CalMac, the subsidy represents 28.5% of the total estimated revenue; for P&O SF the subsidy represents 36.5% of their actual 1998 revenue. The figures do not include subsidy of shipping services under the Tariff Rebate Subsidy scheme, or assistance to either company in the form of capital grants.

Health

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged over 60, 65, 70 and 75 have been refused operations over each of the past three years for (a) heart conditions; (b) prostate conditions; (c) cancer; (d) eye ailments, and (e) hearing difficulties.

Susan Deacon: No one has been refused an operation solely on the grounds of age.

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it recognises "Social Phobia" as a genuine illness leading to, among other difficulties, social exclusion and, if so, what treatment guidelines have been issued.

Iain Gray: Social Phobia is included in the main psychiatric diagnostic manuals, the ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). Social Phobia is a mental illness that in its severest forms could result in almost complete social isolation.

  Health Boards and NHS Trusts are expected to develop services for the treatment of psychological disorders based on the assessment of needs. The services provided should typically integrate the contributions and resources of all relevant professionals (specialist clinics, GPs, mental health nurses, social workers etc) at all levels of expertise.

  No specific treatment guidelines have been issued by the Scottish Executive.

Housing

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been received about the operation of housing associations in Scotland, how many of these complaints have been upheld by the courts and ombudsman, and whether it will provide details of the outcome of the complaint and any subsequent case in respect of Grampian Housing Association.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The following table sets out the total number of complaints received by the Housing Association Ombudsman for Scotland in 1998-99 and how these were dealt with:-

  Total Complaints Received   117 Outside Ombudsman’s remit   17 Withdrawn by complainant   19 Referred back to housing association’s complaints procedure   12 Investigated and not upheld   25 Investigated and upheld   31 Ongoing investigation (as at 31 March 1999)   13

  Since 1 April 1999 the Ombudsman has received two complaints about Grampian Housing Association. Both of these complaints have been referred back to the association’s complaints procedure.

Housing

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out an inquiry into the administration and operation of housing associations in Scotland, looking in particular at their accountability and democratic practices.

Ms Wendy Alexander: No. Registered housing associations are subject to monitoring and regulation by Scottish Homes. The regulatory framework includes a requirement to comply with a detailed set of Performance Standards which cover a range of important issues including governance, accountability, probity and propriety. Scottish Homes ensures compliance with the Performance Standards by carrying out regular and rigorous audits.

MSPs

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines, if any, it has issued to its employees on meeting with MSPs.

Mr Tom McCabe: Guidance on meeting with MSPs was issued to Scottish Executive staff in September. The guidance is called Guidance on Contacts with Members of the Scottish Parliament and has been placed on the Scottish Executive Intranet.

Public Appointments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any proposals for the appointment of a Public Appointments Commissioner for Scotland.

Mr Jack McConnell: I recently announced earlier that the Executive will embark on a wide-ranging consultation exercise early in the New Year which will invite views on options for change to the public appointments system in post-devolution Scotland.

  The consultation paper will seek views on whether a separate Scottish Commissioner for Public Appointments should be established and if so, what powers, responsibilities and reporting arrangements he/she might have.

Public Appointments

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used in deciding appointments to public bodies.

Mr Jack McConnell: The specific criteria for each vacancy will vary according to the nature of the body, the job description and the key skills required to fill that post.

  The procedures for filling public appointments are based on the Nolan principles of merit, independent scrutiny and openness which are enshrined in the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice and Guidance. All appointments to public bodies in Scotland are carried out in accordance with the Code.

  In practical terms this means that there is a presumption in favour of advertising for all paid and high profile posts; candidates are selected on merit and are assessed by an advisory panel containing an independent adviser.

  The Executive will be consulting in the New Year on possible options for change to the current public appointment procedures.

Public Appointments

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question number S1W-2664 by Mr Jack McConnell on 18 November 1999, what steps it is taking to ensure that public bodies are representative of Scottish society and that appointments include increased numbers of women and people from the black and ethnic minority communities.

Mr Jack McConnell: I recently announced that the Executive will embark on a wide-ranging consultation exercise early in the New Year which will invite views on the current public appointments system and on possible options for change.

  The consultation paper will seek views as to whether the targets inherited from the Scottish Office for achieving greater representation of women and ethnic minorities in public appointments are relevant. Specifically, we will review how well our achievement levels are for each category of NDPB. The consultation paper will also explore what more can be done to encourage women, disabled people and people from ethnic minorities to apply for public appointments.

  Steps will be taken to ensure that the consultation exercise is widely publicised and that MSPs, public bodies and member of the public are able to make their views known before any final decisions on changes to the system are reached.

Student Finance

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce its response to the recommendations in the report of the Independent Committee of Inquiry into Student Finance.

Donald Dewar: My Ministerial colleagues and I are grateful to the Independent Committee of Inquiry into Student Finance for the careful consideration it has given to the issues dealt with in its report. We are now considering the recommendations set out in the report and will announce our response to them as soon as possible.

  An ad-hoc Ministerial Working Group has been set up to take forward consideration of the recommendations and it will meet for the first time today. The members of the Working Group are the Deputy First Minister, the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, the Minister for Rural Affairs, the Minister for Finance, the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning and myself.

  The Ministerial Working Group will study the report and will advise Cabinet which will then make its decision. We expect to be in a position to make a statement to Parliament around the end of January.

Transport

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the remit and members of the steering group created to help establish a passenger freight terminal at Rosyth in Fife.

Sarah Boyack: A steering group has been established by Scottish Enterprise. The remit of the group is to promote the opportunity to operate a direct ferry service from Scotland to the continent. The group will seek to co-ordinate efforts to attract a commercial ferry operator. Membership includes Scottish Enterprise, Fife Enterprise, Fife Council and the Scottish Tourist Board.

Transport

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to resolve the dispute over the proposed erection of a new tourist sign post on the M90 for the Heart of Scotland Visitor Centre in Kinross.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has considered the request from Perthshire Tourist Board for tourist signing from the M90 for the Heart of Scotland Visitor Centre. In accordance with the Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signposting Policy the appropriate signing for a tourist information centre is the addition of the tourist "i" logo on the motorway direction signs. This has already been provided on the M90.

Transport

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, further to the answer to question number S1W-2395 by Sarah Boyack on 22 November 1999, it will confirm that the A77 upgrade from Fenwick to Malletsheugh will take place within the 2002-05 timescale.

Sarah Boyack: I refer Mr Neil to my answer to question S1W-3423.

Transport

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria will be used to select the independent panel of academics to oversee the multi-modal study of the transport corridors covered by the M8 and M80 and when it will report.

Sarah Boyack: The independent panel of academics will be selected on the basis of their direct experience of multi-modal transport appraisal. Of particular relevance will be experience in transport modelling and appraisal, environmental assessment, economic development issues and land-use/transportation interactions.

  Officials are currently developing a draft study programme, including timescales, for my consideration.

Transport

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government about plans to levy VAT on Forth Road Bridge tolls.

Sarah Boyack: : Since the European Commission announced its intention to take the UK and four other member states to the European Court in 1997 regarding VAT on tolls, there has been ongoing liaison with the UK Government to ensure that the UK defence fully reflects the situation in Scotland.

Transport

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of traffic capacity enhancement, in percentage terms, would be provided through implementing all the schemes in the strategic trunk roads review.

Sarah Boyack: In order to establish a percentage overall capacity enhancement, recourse to a trunk road network model incorporating all of the proposed schemes in the Strategic Roads Review would be required. As the Executive does not propose to implement all of the schemes examined, no such model has been developed.

Transport

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide outline estimates for the construction time for each of the preferred route alignments for schemes covered by the Strategic Roads Review , including schemes where funding is not yet available, and those being processed by local authorities.

Sarah Boyack: The Strategic Roads Review – Scheme Decisions provides the latest information about dates for commencement of construction of the five major schemes being progressed. An estimated completed date for the M77 is also shown. The completion data for the other schemes will become apparent later in the procurement process. Information on timescales for the Kincardine Bridge will become clearer after the current studies have been completed. I refer Mr Scott to the relevant local authorities for further information about the M74 (Northern Extension) and the A8000 replacement. Construction times have not been estimated for the remaining schemes examined in the review.

Warm Deal

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost would be of increasing the grant available under the Warm Deal programme from £500 to £700.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The total cost would depend on the number of grants paid and the amount of grant in each case. I have announced that the budget for the Warm Deal for 2000-01 will be £13 million which would yield 26,000 grants of £500. The cost of 26,000 grants at £700 would be £18.2 million. These figures assume that all grants would be at the maximum level, but in practice the average level of grant will be lower than the maximum.

Warm Deal

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost would be of making available grants of up to £1,800 per household for installing central heating under the Warm Deal programme, similar to the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme which operates in England and Wales.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I understand that under the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme in England it is proposed to introduce new arrangements from June 2000 under which, in certain restricted circumstances, the maximum grant will be £2,000. It is not possible to estimate the cost of introducing similar arrangements in Scotland but plainly the higher the maximum grant in individual cases the fewer the number of dwellings which can be improved for a given budget.

Warm Deal

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the New Warm Deal to allow greater flexibility in the 70%/30% private/public sector split.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I expect that around 50% of the budget for the Warm Deal this year will be spent on local authority housing.

Warm Deal

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the New Warm Deal so that cross subsidy of eligible flats within a given tenemental project can be considered providing that the average grant per flat does not exceed the maximum available.

Ms Wendy Alexander: There are no present plans for a review of this kind.

Warm Deal

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £12 million allocated to the New Warm Deal this year comes from: (a) money transferred from the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme; (b) New Deal and (c) capital receipts to local authorities.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The budget for improving home energy efficiency for low-income households in Scotland is £12 million for 1999-2000. £1.475 million of the total came from the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) to meet the cost of the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) in Scotland between 1 April and 30 June. The rest is for the Warm Deal which was introduced on 1 July. It includes £4.525 million received from DETR as Scotland’s share of the HEES budget for GB for the period from 1 July to 31 March 2000. None of the resources for the Warm Deal come from the budget for the New Deal or from capital receipts by local authorities.

Warm Deal

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the maximum grant of £500 available under the Warm Deal in Scotland programme will be index linked against inflation.

Ms Wendy Alexander: There are no present plans to review the grant maximum.

Warm Deal

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the total funding package of £12 million allocated through the Scottish Healthy Homes Initiative will be index linked against inflation.

Ms Wendy Alexander: In November, I announced that the budget for the Warm Deal will be increased to £13 million in 2000-01 and £14.5 million in 2001-02.

Warm Deal

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the New Warm Deal will operate indefinitely and, if not, how long will it operate for.

Ms Wendy Alexander: We have no plans to bring the Warm Deal to an end.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Recycling

Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer what plans the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has to incorporate recycling initiatives into the new parliament building.

Sir David Steel: One of the environmental aims of the new parliament building will be to reduce the amount of waste disposed at landfill. As a result, recycling will be an integral part of the facilities available. This will include the recycling of waste paper, aluminium cans, vending cups, cardboard, and any other materials should a suitable outlet for them exist.